Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!
Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the Final August Edition? That came quickly, don't you think? As promised, next week we begin the ever-popular September editions!
With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?
The time has come to begin the discussion of the upcoming TXMoMe in Corsicana, TX on October 16-17. This is the eleventh annual TXMoMe, or Conservative Burning Man as it's popularly known, and it promises to be a doozy. A double-doozy even. A bigly double-doozy! If you're in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere of the Planet of the Earth, contact Ben Had for details on attending. The dates and email links for all MoMes are always helpfully included on the blog's main page, left sidebar.
What started years ago as a small get-together and informal plinking session lasting a couple of hours has matured into a full scale jamboree-hootenanny including a program of shooting activities for both handguns and rifles over two days. I have to thank Ben Had, Cow Horse Queen and RancherBob for making this whole thing happen and providing the opportunity for the shooting to comprise such a significant portion of the event.
But wait! There's more! Combine that with world class food and drink, and the even world classier company of your fellow Morons, and you have a weekend that legends are made of. For those not inclined to shoot (?), there are non-stop opportunities to relax in the shade of the carport or under a handy nearby tree with a beverage and visit with your online pals to your hearts content, which is really what the whole damn thing is about in the first place..
Allow me to be serious for a minute. I have said this probably two hundred and eighty-three times now. These gatherings are a really good time, and I know of no one who expresses regret after having attended one. Actually it goes beyond that. It's not just a weekend of laughs, it's an opportunity to connect with lots of like-minded people and create lasting friendships and priceless memories. No kidding. Think that's hyperbole? It snot. Would your ol' pal Weasel lie to you? Well, yes he would, but not about this. TXMoMe veterans will attest to the funness and completely laid-back nature of the event. Don't be a dork, do yourself a favor and get yo' ass to Texas!
Specifics of the Friday/Saturday schedule of activities will be posted here in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
TXMoMe veterans: please jump into the comments to encourage the scairdy-cats to join in the fun! What was your first MoMe like? What were you expecting? Were you surprised? Did you have a great time?
Call for Volunteers
Help! As I mentioned above, the shooting program in Texas continues to grow, and we wouldn't be able to do it without a lot of help. If you're interested in lending a hand in some capacity, please drop me a note at gunthread at protonmail dot com indicating your date and time of arrival and we'll be in touch. Thank You!
RSOs from prior years: Expect an email from me soon.
If you are attending the TXMoMe this year, and all the cool kids are, please keep an eye on this section for important information and updates in the coming weeks! I also want to reiterate the TXMoMe is not a gun thing with some socializing attached, but rather is a social thing with some shooting attached. If you aren't a shooter, I guarantee you will not feel out of place and will have a great time. No fooling!
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NOTE TO ALL: This is a private event, held on private property, and is open by invitation only. If you have not contacted Ben Had, and received a personal invitation with directions, you are, how do I say, not among the invited. Attendees: Do not share the location of the event with anyone or risk losing your own TXMoMe privileges.
So with that piece of serious business out of the way, are all y'all getting excited? Weasel are!!
Q: Weasel, what is the best gun for grizzly bears?
A: Ha! Good one!
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Our Pal Bennies And Goofballs
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Highway Patrol!
This week's episode: Auto Press
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Flash Gordon: Zydereen Of Neptune!
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Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.
A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid
Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!
Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!
That's it for this week - have you been to the range?
Food Thread: Filet Mignon With Ramen? Sure...Why Not?
—CBD
[Of course I wanted to embed a song by "Korn," but they are awful!]
New Jersey corn is pretty good, mostly because the supply chain is short and it arrives within a day or so of harvest. But supermarkets add a day or two to the mix, so it is difficult to get really fresh corn without driving to good farm stands.
But...damn! It's worth it. A few weeks ago we picked up a few ears of freshly picked corn and ate it that day. I shucked them, popped them into 185 degree water, and simmered for 10 minutes.
That's it. No salt. No butter! They were incredibly sweet and tender and absolutely delicious.
So why not go back to the well? And we did, but the later season corn...just two weeks later...wasn't as good. Still solid, and a pleasure to eat, but not incredible.
There are a few dishes that come to mind when I think of foods that are best with complex sauces or lots of spiciness or in the case of snails...butter and garlic and parsley. Chicken breast is a perfect food for a cook to let his freak fly, because no matter what he does, he isn't masking the flavor of the breast, because there isn't much there to begin with. And I know some of you are put off by the idea of snails, but they really don't taste like much; they are a vehicle for those three delicious ingredients!
But you know what another one is? Filet Mignon, or tenderloin, or whatever you want to call it. Beef (or pork) tenderloin is very mildly flavored, and lends itself to great buttery, creamy pan sauces, or an au Poivre sauce. Filet on its own is nice, but nothing special.
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I went to Costco recently, which is often an unimaginable pain in the ass, but I went very early, before the proles showed up, and the place was actually tolerable. I bought one of their $4.99 roasted chickens, because I wanted to experiment and make chicken stock out of it.
But...it looked so good that I tasted it, and yup! It was mighty tasty for a mass-market chicken that is a loss-leader. Sure, it was salty, and had some other spices that I couldn't figure out, but for a quick meal while standing over the sink, it delivered!
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I know this dish sounds weird, and I can't vouch for it because I haven't made it...yet. But it does sound interesting, and I really love the combination of spicy and sweet Blackberry Fire Chicken might be a dud, but the idea is a good one!
But for f*ck's sake! Stop with the "boneless-skinless" nonsense. Chicken thighs are great with the bone in and the skin intact. Is it some lunatic diet thing? Skin does have a bit of fat, and of course it does! Because it tastes good, and fat is flavor.
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Homesick Texan is one of the better food blogs around. Why? Well, she knows how to write, so reading her stuff is not an unpleasant chore until one gets to the recipe. And she doesn't have much of an ego when it comes to cooking, so she doesn't come of as a pompous know-it-all.
Here is something that won't win any awards, but sounds like it is mighty tasty. Brisket macaroni and cheese! And she adds pickled jalapeñoslices on the side because why the hell not?
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In my youth I was quite inventive with a pack of ramen noodles and some vegetables and maybe some tofu, or even ground pork if I was flush!
I haven't had homemade in a very long time...just the fancy (and delicious) stuff at Ramen restaurants. But I am intrigued about trying it again, so the next time I go to my sort-of-local Japanese market I am going to pick up some and see what I can do with it! It'll be fun, and it might even be tasty!
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The great garlic experiment of 2025-2026 was a resounding...meh. Send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
About the Bourbon Bubble...I think it has burst, but the category is also suffering from the inflation that affected everything else (Thanks Biden!). I think the sweet spot is still $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.
The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!
Wow...that really is a First World Problem! We have the leisure time to examine our pasts and try to learn as much about our ancestors as we can.
And because we live in an information cornucopia, we expect that everything will eventually appear.
But...that isn't the case!
That's my great uncle...and I know nothing about him! Nor will I ever. Whatever information there was describing his life has been lost. It is simply impossible to recreate, which in the grand scheme of things is fine. But I sure would have liked to have known what happened!
Warrantless Surveillance Is An Unalloyed Evil, And Cannot Be Justified By Claiming A Reduction In Crime
—CBD
This is an absolutely moronic take on a massive degradation of our civil liberties. It's difficult to underestimate the stupidity of this author, who seems to think that there is some balanced equation between our God-given, natural rights, and the destruction of those rights on the altar of safety.
It’s been a tough summer for automatic license plate readers (ALPRs). Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that at least 50 police officers have been charged with or accused of misusing plate-reader networks, including for stalking wives, ex-girlfriends, and other women. One small-town Georgia police chief ran his ex-girlfriend’s plates roughly 600 times. California legislators took up the technology in hearings titled “Don’t Flock me,” a jab at Flock, the Atlanta company whose ALPRs now scan roads in more than 6,000 American communities. A backlash that began among left-leaning civil libertarians has spread to the populist Right, and city councils now face packed hearings on whether to keep the cameras.
The debate has become more heat than light. Both sides fixate on anecdotes, with supporters pointing to abducted children recovered after a timely plate hit, while critics list stories of rogue officers and plate data shared far beyond the agencies that collected this information. Neither answers a question that policymakers face: Does the technology produce enough public safety to justify its costs, in dollars and in privacy?
I don't give a sh*t that Flock and other unconstitutional searches may decrease crime. So will sending SWAT teams into every house in America to look for drugs or "illegal" weapons, or taking the medical records of every American and analyzing them for possible illegality. Or sending forensic accountants into every business in America and checking their books. Or....
The list is long how we can make ourselves "safer." But as some very wise men understood, safety is a temporary condition that leads inexorably to totalitarianism.
Does that sound histrionic? Maybe, but provide a counter example please!
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom - go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!
-- Samuel Adams
Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
-- Benjamin Franklin
Government is fundamentally evil, and the expansion of its surveillance capacity simply makes it worse, and gives it more power over us. If anyone thinks that government is expanding its surveillance capacity because it will make us safer, then I have a bridge to sell you. They expand it, and all of its power, for one reason: control over the people.
We have to push back whenever we can, and Flock cameras are an excellent place to take a stand. And it's easy! Agitate against them in every public forum, starting with your local government council. And if you ever end up on a jury for a trial of someone who destroyed a Flock camera or any other onerous surveillance technology...you know what to do.
Good morning, ‘rons and ‘ronettes. It’s time once again for the monthly MP4-hosted Sunday Book Thread. Dress for men, as always, is country club casual. Women, however, are encouraged to cater to my own particular tastes:
So ask the barman for a cocktail, covfefe or tea and let’s get started!
‘AI, ay, ay!’
A while back, an offer popped up on my Facebook feed.* It was an AI program that, if you gave it some prompts, would shoot you back a plot for a book. I was curious, so offered it a basic line of ‘what would happen if a 1915 NJ movie studio had a murder to keep it from moving to Hollywood?’
A few minutes later, the program gave me a full plotline. As one might expect from this woke age, the main character was a spunky female reporter trying to make her way in a male-dominated world. I liked what I saw, but decided that I didn’t need it and wiped it out.
But, having thought about it, I wondered why I shouldn’t use it for my next book? After all, the late Clive Cussler paid people to come up with plots for his Dirk Pitt novels. And James Patterson ‘collaborates’ with unknown authors, takes their plots, adds his ‘unique viewpoint’ and pushes them out on the marketplace.
So let’s presume I asked an AI program for a plot. Am I cheating? Suppose I didn’t follow it slavishly, but used the plot as a jumping off point for my own thoughts. Is my book compromised because I began with an AI plot?
Incidentally, the same program would, if you asked it, take the plot it generated and then spit out an entire book. But why would anyone even within whispering distance of calling themselves an author do such a thing? Oh, I know it happens (and, as I joke, because Amazon will print just about anything up to and including Bigfoot-themed erotica, ‘author’ is practically a worthless word), but beyond the lure of money and the simple ease of the shortcut, why do such a thing to yourself?
This is a subject more for the authors of the Horde, but what about you? If you knew that an author used AI to create a plot, but not the content of the book itself, would that drive you away?
*I hate Facebook. I am only there to be part of the ‘Theda Bara Fan Club.’ I hate the rest of it.
Following that track record, we likely won't see 60 FPS support on consoles till the PS7, while PC will enjoy unlocked frame rates once its port drops down the line.
GTA VI will not be available on PC at launch, and there's no indication as to when that might happen.
Not really an issue for me, personally. I don't even own GTA V and I picked up GTA IV in a bundle somewhere but have never played it. So I can keep running Hytale at 60Hz on my 9070 XT... Needing about 10% of its available performance.
Continuing work on my programming language, which last I checked weighed in at 3.4MB uncompressed and 1.2MB compressed - compiler and standard library included. Working on extending the standard library now.
It's implemented in Rust, is stricter than Rust, inherits Rust's semantics otherwise, and compiles a couple of orders of magnitude faster than Rust precisely because of that strictness - but borrows syntax from Ruby so it doesn't feel like Rust.
And for once not in a bad way. OpenAI (which owns ChatGPT) cancelled its partnership with coding tool Cursor, now owned by SpaceX. Anthropic took the opportunity to put the boot in, not against Cursor or SpaceX but against OpenAI.
I do not like OpenAI. I have Grok because it's useful for search and image generation, Claude because it's useful for coding, and Gemini because... It comes with my Google account, really. ChatGPT I tried and canceled.
A health problem I don't have. At the last checkup my doctor asked if I was on medication for cholesterol because my numbers were on the low side of normal. Nope, just luck of the genetic lottery.
And now the unlucky can snip the bad genes out rather than having to take a daily pill for the rest of their lives.
Which I do, but for other reasons.
Musical Interlude
Disclaimer: 1.0 < 2.00 evaluates as false? I'd mark that as an oops.
Saturday Night Club ONT - August 29, 2026 [Disco & Dino]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to Club ONT - a whelming collaboration of The Disco and The Dino.
Open thread - bar is open, too. Come in in, grab a drink or 2. Or 3. Keep it light and friendly. The moose is feeling blue tonight, so stop and say hello before entering.
I took my 79-year-old uncle to the mall to buy new shoes.
Afterward we sat in the food court. A teenage girl with spiked hair in every color—red, green, blue, and orange—sat next to us. My uncle kept staring.
Finally she snapped, “What’s your problem, old man? Never done anything wild in your life?”
My uncle calmly replied, “Once I got high and slept with a peacock. I was just wondering… you might be my daughter.”
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A Republican, a Libertarian, and a Democrat are captured by a cannibal tribe in a dense jungle. The tribe chief gives them a final chance to save their lives:
“Go into the jungle and bring back ten pieces of any single fruit you can find.”
The Republican returns first with ten apples.
The chief says: “Now, if you can shove all ten apples up your ass without making any sound or expression on your face, we won’t eat you.”
The Republican manages one, but at the second apple, he winces in pain. The tribe eats him.
The Libertarian returns next with ten tiny berries.
The chief gives him the same rule.
The Libertarian gets to the ninth berry with complete silence… but suddenly, right before the tenth one, he bursts out laughing hysterically! The tribe eats him too.
In heaven, the Republican meets the Libertarian and asks: “Dude, you were so close! Why on earth did you laugh on the last berry?”
The Libertarian replies: “I couldn’t help it… I saw the Democrat coming back with ten watermelons!”
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Drink of the Night
Liquid Marijuana (also known as "Mountain Smoke" in some places)
Ingredients
1/2 oz. Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
1/2 oz. Malibu Rum
1/2 oz. Blue Curacao
3/4 oz. Midori
2 1/2 oz. Pineapple Juice
2 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix
Instructions - Combine over ice cubes in a highball glass.
Despite the name, it contains no cannabis.
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Club ONT Department of AI, but Waiting for Some Town to do this
Towns and cities could get a lot more support for municipal projects if they had a little more imagination.
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Club ONT Department of Opportunity
Does opportunity knock or does it sometimes call?
In unrelated news, be on the lookout for a stolen truck full of PBR near Montclair, California (east of LA, near Claremont and Pomona and Ontario). A truck can hold over 50,000 cans of beer worth about $45,000.
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Club ONT Department of Vanity Products
Dino has gone too far trying to get attention at the Club Snack Bar!
Happy Saturday evening friends! Welcome to the music thread! (or is this the Hobby Thread afterparty? or maybe the Club ONT pre-party?)
Please adjust your treble and bass and get your woofers and tweeters in order.
Tonight's music thread theme is writing. Yes, music can be about singing but how do singers know what to say? This may come as a shock to some of you, so I'll say it gently: in some cases, other people write the words. What? Yep.
All the chatter over the past few days about Dolly Parton writing "I Will Always Love You" - later was made famous by Whitney Houston - got us thinking.
What great songs were written by people other than those that recorded/sang them? What great writers warrant more recognition in the history books?
Many songs you recognize were not written by the recording/performing artist. No, Garth Brooks did not write "Friends in low places" - Earl Bud Lee and Dewayne Blackwell wrote it. "What's Love Got to Do with It" was recorded by Tina Turner but written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. "...Baby One More Time" made Britney Spears famous but it was written by Max Martin and first offered to TLC.
The list below came from poking around the interwebs which means it may or may not be accurate.
Prince wrote "Manic Monday" for The Bangles, "Nothing Compares 2 U" for Sinéad O'Connor, and "I Feel for You" for Chaka Khan.
Carole King co-wrote "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for The Shirelles, "The Loco-Motion" for Little Eva, and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" for Aretha Franklin.
Neil Diamond wrote "I'm a Believer" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" for The Monkees.
Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy," which became Patsy Cline's signature hit, "Hello Walls" sung by Faron Young, "Pretty Paper" sung by Roy Orbison, and "Pretend I Never Happened" by Waylon Jennings
The Bee Gees wrote "Islands in the Stream" for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, and "Woman in Love" for Barbra Streisand.
Paul McCartney wrote and produced "Come and Get It" for Badfinger.
Lionel Richie wrote and produced "Lady" for Kenny Rogers.
Sia wrote "Diamonds" for Rihanna and "Pretty Hurts" for Beyoncé.
Pharrell Williams co-wrote "Hot in Herre" for Nelly.
Paul Anka adapted and wrote the English lyrics for "My Way," which Frank Sinatra made famous.
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Country music has a tradition of understanding that singers and songwriters are two often two different people.
Professional songwriters are a backbone of country music but less recognized by name. Here are a few:
Harlan Howard wrote or co-wrote "I Fall to Pieces" (Patsy Cline), "Busted" (Johnny Cash / Ray Charles), "Heartaches by the Number," and "Why Not Me."
Cindy Walker's writing credits include "You Don't Know Me," "Dream Baby," "Bubbles in My Beer," and songs for Bob Wills, Eddy Arnold, and Roy Orbison.
Felice and Boudleaux Bryant wrote a huge catalog for the Everly Brothers (
"Bye Bye Love," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "Wake Up Little Susie") plus hits for others.
Bob McDill's songwriting hits include "Good Ole Boys Like Me," "Gone Country," and "Song of the South."
Billy Sherrill was better known as a producer, but co-wrote "Stand by Your Man," "The Most Beautiful Girl."
Ashley Gorley is a modern songwriter with dozens of top hits written for Luke Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Carrie Underwood, and others. His most well known hits include "Last Night" by Morgan Wallen, "That's My Kind of Night" and "Play it Again" by Luke Bryan, and "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins.
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is feeling lucky and decided on a YouTubeing theme for this Hobby Thread.
A what? A YouTube theme? Warning: there may be modest math involved.
This Hobby Thread started with a question after watching many, many YouTube channels as research for thread content: "Do these channels earn money? If so, how does it work?"
The notes below are my findings. Full disclosure: I am a dinosaur with short arms and a small brain. I am not a YouTube creator and have little first-hand knowledge. I have not included every nuance or detail and there are likely unknowing errors.
For many, YouTube is a hobby. For others, it is a career. I continue to be fascinated by the idea that the interweb has allowed people with many different niche interests to find each other. (Who knew there was such a deep audience for videos about heavy equipment recovery and restoration? Millions of views - mine included.)
YouTube provides a platform and an incentive to create content. Of course, not all content is good content and not all channels speak to all people but we don't have to click on anything and the "off" button is always an option.
I have opinions about the good, bad and ugly of YouTube and social media but the objective for today is to better understand the facts and not trash particular creators or channel types. The purpose of this post is not to act as a YouTube content critic - just to understand how it works.
Interested in knowledge and questions from the Horde. Have you tried YouTubing (either for profit or just for fun)? Do you know how it works? If not, are you curious? What would you like to know? What have I missed in the outline below? What surprising YouTube niches exist? We'll learn together.
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What are you hobbying?
YouTube may not be everyone's favorite but give the content a chance before you judge. The thread is not limited to to the theme. Anything (legal) you are hobbying is welcome. Even if the theme does not speak to you, you might learn something or be entertained. If not, offer something else relating to hobbying. If all of that fails, just check in and say hello.
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Leave politics and religion to threads elsewhere (unless your hobby is building or restoring churches). Pants? Nope. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.
Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
***
Charlie Munger famously said "Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome." Charlie was a wise man.
Things I learned about how YouTube creators earn money:
1) A creator makes money through YouTube in five primary ways.
a. splitting ad revenue that YouTube charges advertisers
b. earning a share of pooled YouTube Premium revenue
c. memberships
d. sponsorships (either cash or barter)
e. using YouTube as a funnel to personal business lines outside of YouTube.
2) Channels do not automatically qualify for monetization. A channel must meet minimum criteria for subscribers and watch hours. The current requirement is 1,000 subscribers, and either 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. New rules in Feb 2027 double the required watch hours or Shorts views. (There is a lower tier that unlocks access to some features, but no ad revenue.) Once monetized, a channel must post periodically to remain monetized.
3) Ad revenue:
a. Creators split revenue with YouTube for long-form videos 55/45. Earnings are measured by revenue per thousand views. Shorts pay, but a lot lower because ads run between short videos and revenue is pooled.
b. Advertisers can directly choose individual YouTube channels (or even specific videos) where their ads will appear. They can also pay for exposure to viewer characteristics and let YouTube place the ads.
c. Ad revenue varies widely by niche, audience location/desirability (e.g., US finance viewers pay far more than gaming viewers in lower-tier countries), watch time/retention (longer videos serve more ads), and seasonality (such as holidays). The result is that different channels with the same number of views can earn very different ad revenue.
d. Revenue is only earned if viewers watch the ads.
4) Some YouTube viewers pay a fee to watch without ads through the YouTube Premium. 60% of the net revenue is pooled and split among creators based on view activity of Premium members.
5) Channel memberships give viewers perks such as members-only content or early access, etc. The revenue split is 70% to the creator, 30% to YouTube.
6) Sponsorships are direct deals between the creator and brands. Pricing is negotiated and can be a flat fee, based on views or a mix. Creators can also barter exposure for other goods or services. Sponsorships that are integrated seamlessly into the video and promoted by the creator are more desirable because they are more credible and less prone to be skipped. YouTube takes no share of revenue earned from deals made directly with sponsors but creators need to get comfortable with pitching products.
7) Creator-organized business lines such as branded merchandise, building plans, books, courses, etc. involve no split with YouTube. Some primarily use YouTube channel as a funnel for other business ventures rather than looking at YouTube as the primary business. Since YouTube takes no share, there is a strong incentive to earn from other business lines.
8 ) Which channel niches earn the most? Personal finance, investing, insurance, legal, real estate, and B2B software.
9) Which channel niches earn the least? Gaming, entertainment, reactions, music, and kids content.
10) Ten to thirty minute videos with strong retention are ideal. This partially explains why some videos that could be done in five minutes seem like they're stretched to 10 or 15 minutes. The short attention spans of most viewers is an ongoing challenge.
11) Only about 2-4% of channels (roughly 2-3 million) reach the thresholds to become fully monetized for ads.
12) Most monetized channels earn very little from ads - often under $100-$200 per month. Only 10-25% of monetized channels earn $1,000 plus or minus. Only 5-12% of monetized channels earn $4000 per month (less than 1% of all active YouTube channels).
13) Ad earnings per thousand views from long videos vary. Low demand channels earn $0.50 to $2 - and most channels are low demand. The median for all channels is estimated at $2.30. Medium channels earn $3-8. High value channels are rarer but can be $8-$15+.
14) Channels can earn indefinitely, in many cases for years after posting. A video about an annual event, for example, can see viewership spikes each year around the time of the event.
15) Subscriptions and likes do not directly drive ad revenue but they are data points that can help with sponsorships. They modestly help the algorithm that determines what videos to show viewers for recommendations.
16) Click through rate (volume of viewers that click on a thumbnail) is a strong signal for the algorithm. The importance of the click through makes thumbnail design crucial and explains why many thumbnail visuals and wording feels overhyped, even if the content itself is not. Creators often compare different thumbnails for the same video to measure effectiveness (YouTube even has a "test and compare" tool). Viewer retention is the other big driver for the algorithm.
17) Sponsorship fees vary widely but are typically a fee per video based on the volume of expected views based on recent channel activity. Channels with between 100K and 500K subscribers average between $1,500 and $10,000 with a median of about $2,500 for a sponsorship pitch that is incorporated into the content. Top channels with desirable viewers and good retention can earn ten times that.
18 ) Not all YouTube content is eligible for monetization. Content must be original, non-repetitive, and avoid vulgarity, violence and other similar material. Copyright and intellectual property rights also must be honored (which is why videos using copyrighted music are excluded).
19) Many creators think of YouTube monetization within a larger ecosystem of revenue opportunities. They combine YouTube with platforms like Patreon to build diversified and stable revenue streams.
20) Ultimately, profit is only what remains from revenue after expenses. Controlling the expense side of the ledger is critical. Even if there is a profit, each creator needs to account for the value of their own time invested.
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Take-aways:
Most YouTube revenue goes to a small number of active channels with the most desirable viewer demographics and creators that know how to optimize their content.
YouTube content is essentially advertising. The challenge for a creator is to make the content engaging enough to keep your eyeballs. Not all advertising opportunities are compelling for advertisers, so not all creators earn the same revenue.
The laws of supply and demand apply. It is difficult to attract and retain an audience with indistinct content. Storytelling is usually the common link and good creators know how to do it. Narrative arcs don't have to be complicated. For example, here is a problem or a project, here is an illustration of the solution and steps along the way, and here is the result.
With lots of supply, it is difficult to stand out. Want to get rich making travel videos with top 10 national parks or travel tips for Paris? Good luck. It is also difficult to retain relevance with a continued stream of compelling, original content. The solution for many creators is continually trying to outdo themselves and others with more and more extreme adventures, projects and storylines (which becomes a self-reinforcing loop).
Authenticity is the other secret weapon. Generic content is easy to produce and AI lowers the cost to produce a lot of content. Lower barriers to entry mean more slop and garbage and authenticity cuts through the noise for most viewers. AI will challenge what feels sufficiently authentic in the future but credibility via authenticity will remain the secret weapon for most successful creators.
"Monetization" means different things to different creators. For many, it is a hobby with a little money to offset expenses. For a smaller group, YouTube revenue is part of a strategy to make creating content a full time job. For an even smaller group, YouTube is mostly a means to funnel attention to other commercial opportunities.
Some aspects of the YouTube platform encourage overhyped thumbnails or content. The algorithm decides what to recommend or show viewers, so it matters for growth. Retention, however, drives revenue. Clickbait videos that don't keep viewers will not earn much revenue and different channels have different approaches to maximize time spent viewing their content.
Economies of scale apply. Wonder why some YouTubers create second channels or collaborate with other creators? More monetized content at lower cost of production = more profit.
It is possible for niche creators on YouTube can find a dedicated and loyal audience and earn a living but there more involved than "film and post my life and get rich." Successful creators make a steady stream of unique and original content with their own style that resonates with an audience, builds credibility, and is difficult to replicate.
Professional YouTubers do not think of YouTube as a hobby. They hire professional videographers and editors, plan and regularly produce content, track metrics, and manage the business side with sponsors and agents. That part of their operation may or may not be obvious in their videos. YouTube is also typically part of a broader business strategy.
There are a ridiculous number of YouTube channels dedicated to telling you how to make money on YouTube, how to get monetized on YouTube, and how YouTube changed people's lives. If it is that easy, why doesn't everyone do it? Buyer beware.
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a radio control theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.
Notable comment from last week:
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Words of wisdom:
"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).
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Reminder: if you put links in the comments, use a URL shortener and describe what you're linking to. Failing to do either or both makes you barrel-eligible. Don't make people click to find out what you're linking.
Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Or just email to say hello. Do mighty things.
Crows are incredibly clever. This one figured out how to turn a tap on to get water and even remembered to turn it off afterwards. Their ability to learn, remember, and repeat useful behaviours is amazing pic.twitter.com/fgFi9QzaYR
Courtesy Powerline Week in Pictures and Misanthropic Humanitarian
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I don't know that I've seen this breed of horse before:
This majestic Celtic horse breed, distinguished by its magnificent mane and the thick feathering on its legs, is known as the Gypsy Vanner; here, we see one alongside its young, proud foal, taking its first steps. pic.twitter.com/VTmYZWU2z7
The Andalusian, aka pura raza española, has been recognized as a distinct breed since the XV century. It has been known for its prowess as a war horse and kings across Europe rode them for centuries
On March 11, 889, a 22-year-old Japanese emperor wrote in his diary about a new black cat he had recently acquired…
“On the 6th Day of the 2nd Month of the First Year of the Kampo era. Taking a moment of my free time, I wish to express my joy of the cat. It arrived by boat as a… pic.twitter.com/fVDuDlwiFV
Mom’s old Cocker Spaniel loves to watch her cook, so Mom puts her on the seat at the island. She usually gets a treat as a bonus. When Mom finished, she left Birdy in the chair. Later, she heard snoring. Birdy sleeps a lot.
:-) Rider In The Sky
Love to Birdy. Great photo.
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It's a bit early for Halloween, but here's Della in her spider costume. Unfortunately, she refuses to scurry while she's wearing it. She just lies down and rolls onto her back.
Miley
I would not have recognized her.
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Hi KT,
This is Bunny, watching Della eat her breakfast and waiting to be served herself.
Miley
So patient! Love Bunny.
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PetMoron Adjacent Animals
Encountered by Members of The Horde
Here’s a Cooper’s hawk outside my guest room window last week. Beautiful bird. Crows were keeping a close eye on him.
Later, saw an osprey with a fish in his talons fly across the street.
Raptors galore! Nurse r
Fun to see. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you for sharing your pets and animal photos and stories with us today.
If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:
petmorons at protonmail dot com
Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.
My crazy 6 ft tall tomato plant is overloaded with tomatoes. The picture below is two days haul and there are many more to come.
The jalapeños at the top are the two different varieties I mentioned last week. The small one is a normal jalapeño and the big one is called Giant Jalapeño. Three jars of pickled japaenos so far and maybe one or two more.There are half dozen poblanos almost ready.
Going to roast the tomatoes because there is no way I can eat all of them.
Sharon(willow's apprentice)
The cherry tomatoes look great. What do you do with them after roasting?
The peppers also sound good.
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Tomatoes and peppers seem to be the favorite veggies for members of The Horde to grow. And they make nice photos for social media, too! Enjoy life!
Fabulous few days looking after grandson, almost 2, whilst his mum & dad went to a wedding. An absolute joy, but boy are we exhausted! My birthday yesterday passed in a blur of playing in the park, baking biscuits, reading & picking tomatoes. Quiet at home now. Have a good day. pic.twitter.com/eEE7rGTHXJ
Maybe this will remind CBD to plan for a garden next year:
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A confusing vegetable name. Have you ever grown these? I have eaten them. They remind me of a sort of sweet Jicama when raw.
Gm. Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), a native North American sunflower, is not a type of artichoke (it’s a root vegetable), and its Jerusalem moniker is a mispronunciation of “girasole,” the Italian word for sunflower. pic.twitter.com/gHuGx1Q9ZF
Located in County Meath, Ireland, this stunning 300-year-old Yew Tree Tunnel at Gormanston Castle is a living architectural marvel.
Planted in the late 17th century by the Preston family, generations of meticulous training have caused the branches of these ancient trees to… pic.twitter.com/sKVYEIQnqA
Bern has a quirky summer tradition: instead of driving home, some locals jump into the Aare River after work, pack their clothes in waterproof bags, and float with the current all the way home pic.twitter.com/Iu9gXeidBz
Have you ever seen a display of radioactivity in a cloud chamber? My Dad used to set them up with radioactive needles at my elementary school. You could always see some stray trails coming from space though.
This is a reminder that the first "GMO Plants" were created by blasting seeds with X-rays and other forms of radioactivity to randomly induce mutations. When you wonder if some of our grains are not as healthy as grains of old, random procedures like this could have possibly been one reason.
This is a radioactive mineral inside a cloud chamber which allows you to see condensation trails cause by radioactive decay particles shooting through a supersaturated alcohol vapor cloud, mainly alpha particles. pic.twitter.com/M9n2DsWZYO
The Los Feliz Neighborhood Council alerted our office in late 2025 to the need for a crosswalk at Sunset Dr. and Bates St., which has just been completed!
Thank you to our incredible CD4 Field Team for continuing to problem-solve, push for solutions, and make our streets safer.
Once cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles do this—once you essentially look the other way for the homeless, junkies, illegal immigrants, criminals, or whoever it is, while shining a spotlight on taxpayers with over-regulation, over-permitting, and trying to manage every grain of their lives, versus saying to illegal immigrants, ‘Go do whatever you want,’ or to the homeless, ‘Go shoot up wherever you want or sleep wherever you want’—then you’ve lost it. L.A.’s there. San Francisco’s there.
Sleep wherever you want and don't worry about setting fires . . .
How's that high-speed rail coming along?
Yesterday we drove over a fancy new overpass which is intended to allow cars and trucks to easily make their way over the future high-speed rail tracks. It looks a lot like a smaller version of a similar overpass over a highway a few miles to the north.
Traffic crossing the nearby existing freight and Amtrak rails must still stop the old-fashioned way. The new overpass does not look particularly safe for pedestrians or bicyclists. Perhaps some new local bus routes between neighborhoods and country towns are planned for the future.
Some neighborhoods no longer exist, having fallen victim to eminent domain.
There won't be a high-speed train station nearby. So the promise of "local jobs" was kinda temporary.
The pretty new overpass does keep people from getting lost like they did for months on the previous very confusing detours which changed periodically. And some cars fell into ditches during the many months of detours and degraded roads, as well. So, in one small part of the future high-speed rail route, some progress has apparently been made.
I wouldn't be surprised if traffic over the newly finished infrastructure is restricted when work on the rails begins. If it does.
Shafter Shafts plans for high-speed rail
This is not too far to the south of the pretty new overpass:
California’s high-speed rail boondoggle, which is already a $128 billion joke that has been decades in the making with not a single mile of track carrying a single paying passenger, has managed to find a brand-new way to embarrass the state’s “visionary” political leadership.
This time, it’s not federal funding cuts or blown deadlines doing the damage, but a Central Valley city and a major homebuilder simply refusing to get out of the way, greenlighting 1,200 new homes smack in the middle of the rail authority’s approved route.
California’s beleaguered, over-budget high-speed rail line now has one more thing to worry about: A city and housing developer wants to build homes right in the train’s projected path.
Shafter, a city near Bakersfield, and developer Lennar Homes are plowing ahead with 1,200 homes in the same area off Highway 99 where the state’s rail authority plans to build tracks. . .
Well. This seems rather late in the game to be changing the route on the already truncated high-speed rail line. See more details at the link.
New California High Speed Rail video for you. Based on a new report by the CAHSR Office of the Inspector General and developments in the city of Shafter, the project is at serious risk of not being able to open an Initial Operating Segment. At all.
So confusing!
Call Shafter’s move poetic justice for a project that has spent over a decade steamrolling farmers and small property owners with eminent domain and political entitlement.
Sacramento’s fantasy train may get ” shafted” by the plucky citizens of a small town that California bureaucrats chose to ignore. . .
As an added bonus, given the state’s “housing shortage,” it’s going to be very hard to make Lennar homes a villain in this story.
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You've likely heard that Newsom's wife has ties to California energy interests. Another reason to watch the politics around data centers and such:
Chew on this:
Your power in Reno and my power in SLT Calif both come from the same source -- NV Energy.
My electricity bill is routinely over $500 a month in the summer time, and it's rarely over 85 degrees during the daytime. https://t.co/DorJbqPaxf
And in current news, California lawmakers block Gov. Newsom's push to limit wildfire liability for utilities. The stock at PG&E, the special friends of Newsom's wife, has gone down.
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WEEKEND
THE MOST WOKE SENTENCE EVER?
"Real" papers that are indistinguishable from this are published almost daily. https://t.co/Q8ec0kcNRL
In this week's Grumpy Economist Rant, @JohnHCochrane revisits Alexander Hamilton's approach to the large public debt left by the Revolutionary War and explains how honoring contracts built America's financial reputation.
Dolly Parton’s music was never my taste, but somehow I always had only favorable impressions of her when she came into public view over the last 50 years. And just now I recall that a big Broadway play of my youth was “Hello, Dolly!” The film version would have been so much better with Dolly Parton instead of Barbra “Strident” Streisand. And so just now we need to improvise “Goodbye, Dolly.” Is it true that she’s the last figure in the country that everyone loved? Maybe. But let’s not overlook Tim Curry while we’re at it. And let’s salute America’s newest Great Lake!
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Music
Think everybody listens to the same music all the time?
Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.
Update:
Worst of all, by far, is "autoethnography"
It’s hard to convey to people who haven’t seen this stuff just how rife it is in the humanities and social sciences today. I remember going to Cambridge to study anthropology and thinking I would be asking big questions about human nature and bizarre rituals and customs, but all… https://t.co/zSVBEIBJ2b
The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. A big thank you to TRex for filling in a week ago. My computer died. And he was gracious enough to fill in at the last moment.
Before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Bedford Falls)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate
2) Be kind, be nice. And for heaven's sake, stay in your lane.
3) No, you may not run with sharp objects. I don't care if Timmy's mom let him.
4) Have a great weekend! Except for Timmy's mom. I hope she spends it at the ER.
Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.
Prayer Requests:
5/23 – I used to have a Different Nic could use some prayers as he waits for the results of a biopsy of a mass on his prostate.
6/23 Update – The latest update is that he has stage 2, “unfavorable intermediate”, which he notes is an awful name, but what it means is, it is in the middle, but bad enough that they want to treat it. It’s more aggressive than previously thought. He is at the point where he has to decide on treatment options, which means choosing which set of pretty unfortunate side effects he prefers.
8/20 Update – He has finished his radiation treatment, so all he has left are blood tests and waiting. Thanks for everything.
7/25 – Matthew Kant Cipher humbly asks for prayers for Marshall, a long-time friend and HS classmate of Mrs. MKC, who is currently hospitalized with heart failure.
8/7 Update – Marshall passed away after multiple organs failed. Matthew Kant Cipher humbly asks the Horde to pray for the repose of his soul and that God’s perpetual light would shine upon him.
7/25 – Teresa in Fort Worth posted an update. She is still doing fine. Her chemo pump seems to be working and everything appears stable for now. She says she is incredibly blessed! She is working on a stocking for an as-yet-not-born grandchild. She would appreciate prayers for a successful IVF procedure and pregnancy for her daughter and hubby. Next week, Teresa and her husband will be going to California to visit their daughter who lives there and her family.
8/4 Update – Teresa was admitted to the hospital while on vacation in California. She has a bad infection – cellulitis - not due to the cancer. She is being treated with antibiotics and hopefully it will be cleared up in a couple of days.
7/29 – Notsothoreau asked for prayers for Billy Ray’s mother, who was just admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. She is a cancer survivor and chemo destroyed her immune system, so this is a big worry.
8/2 Update – Billy Ray’s mother is feeling better, on oxygen and medication. She is not out of the woods, but has stabilized. She appreciates the prayers from around the globe and says thank you very much.
8/16 Update – Billy Ray’s mother is at home, recovering, and down to just needing a little oxygen at night. One of the doctors told her that he didn’t think she was going to make it. Prayer works.
7/29 – TecumsehTea wrote that MrTea’s diagnosis is colon cancer stage 4. They are praying for guidance for how to proceed.
8/12 Update – MrTea will start radiation treatments for the tumor in the sigmoid colon on Monday – 10 treatments. They are not sure what will follow; they are still looking at options. Surgery is not an option. The cancer has metastasized to the lymph node nearest the tumor and there are 3-5 small spots in the liver. There are also spots in his lung which are indeterminate. He continues on fenben and ivermectin. Prayers are appreciated.
7/30 – David sent an update on his wife, Susan, who we have been praying for as she is treated for cancer. Susan is still doing well and her numbers are headed in the right direction, but they are still having issues with the side effects of the chemotherapy. It is manageable, but they have to increase the number of office visits for additional treatments. Some days are really good right now, but others are only bearable with the Lord’s grace. They are so grateful for the prayers on their behalf.
8/20 Update – Things are not going quite as well now. Please pray, as Susan has picked up a really bad cough. The coughing is so bad that she doesn’t want to eat. Please pray that this illness passes quickly.
8/26 Update – Susan’s cough has gotten so bad that they did X-rays on her chest. It might be pneumonia. She is in the hospital. Her sodium and blood pressure are low and she is not eating much now. They are trying to turn this around and ask for everyone’s prayers.
8/1 – Tonypete asked for prayers for his BIL, who is a developmentally disabled adult and has been living independently (sort of) for decades but the time has come for them to make some changes in his living arrangements and personal finances. This will not go well as he has VERY poor impulse control and anger issues. His dear wife has POA but that is limited in its reach and it is probably time for her to be granted guardianship.
8/15 Update – BIL was released from the hospital, so all is well.
8/7 – neverenoughcaffiene asks for prayers for Lynell, who was recently diagnosed with a rapidly growing brain tumor. Surgery was performed and they were not able to remove all of the cancer. Her prognosis for survival is one year. She is being treated with chemo and radiation. On top of her diagnosis and treatment, she recently broke her ankle. Please pray for Lynell and her husband as they navigate this new reality.
8/8 – Ace-Endorsed Author A. H. Lloyd posted that Mrs. Lloyd will undergo a double mastectomy to remove the breast cancer. She has advanced to Stage 1. Much hinges on the biopsy to determine the specific sub-category of cancer and whether chemo is necessary. Please pray for her in this time of need.
8/22 Update – Mrs. Lloyd is healing ahead of schedule and the surgeon was amazed at her progress. She is still in pain and has limited mobility, but each day she is gaining more freedom of movement. That is the good news; the bad news was the unrealistic expectations set by the medical staff. The surgery was much more significant, and she will also need chemo, contrary to what she was told before.
8/8 – Retired Buckeye Cop requested prayers for his nephew, Josh, who is losing his business due to overwhelming debt. Old addictions have returned; he is drinking heavily. He is currently estranged from his family. His mother is Mrs. Cop’s kid sister.
8/12 – Joe Kidd asked for prayers for a friend’s cousin, who is beginning chemo treatments for stage 3 cancer.
8/14 – RandomDave asked for renewed prayers for his job situation. He just found out that the position he was close to getting went to someone else, and doesn’t know where to turn. He hates to ask, but is getting desperate. He has a GiveSendGo set up; please contact Annie’s Stew for more info. Thanks to those who have already given and thank you for the prayers. They are keeping him from giving up.
8/15 – Donna V contacted Mis. Hum. to let the Horde know the following: “Please let the horde know I am doing fine in hospice”. She would appreciate your prayers.
8/15 – Buck requested prayers for his wife. She is diabetic, and had a bad day on 8/14, with weakness, vomiting, irregular pulse, high blood pressure. She has had sepsis 3 times. They went to ER, but they only gave her meds for nausea, and now she’s back home. Pray that she recovers quickly. Thanks to all.
8/15 – Intruder Driver asked for prayers for Tonya, who was burned over 90% of her body in a gas explosion in Cabo San Lucas. She is now in a hospital in Mexico City. She has a long road to recovery, if she survives.
8/22 Update – Tonya did not survive her burns. Prayers for her and her husband Rusty, who were/are active members of their local church in Mexico.
8/27 – P asks for prayers for the soul of her nephew, C, who committed suicide on 8/17. He was only 32. May he find the peace in the afterlife that he could not find in this life.
8/26 – Teresa in Fort Worth asks for prayers for her BIL, Dick, who was found dead in the alley behind their house in Texas. He had been in declining health and had dementia. They aren’t sure how long he was outside before he passed away. Teresa’s SIL seems to be handling it okay so far. Teresa also asks for prayers for a former neighbor, Melissa, who is hospitalized, recovering from a second stem cell/bone marrow transplant as they attempt to cure her leukemia. She now has blood blisters in her mouth and throat. She had to be intubated before her throat closed completely. This might be her body rejecting the transplant.
For submission guidelines and other relevant info, please contact Annie's Stew, who is managing the prayer list. You can contact her at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. If you see a prayer request posted in a thread comment, feel free to copy and paste it and e-mail it to Annie's Stew. She tries to keep up with the requests in the threads, but she's not here all of the time, so she may not see it unless you e-mail it to her. Please note: Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks or so unless we receive an update.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.
Database binary is 5M. Language is 1.2M. Both squish by 60% using UPX and seem to run just fine. The language will probably be pushing 5M as well by the time it's done, but that seems fine.
Next step is to point the language at the database and rebuild my personal blog. If that works well, others will follow.
I use Claude. I have a specific WSL instance set up for it. If it deletes it, I lose maybe an hour to reinstall the whole environment and pull the code back from Git.
Monty Python demonstrates the English sense of humor for a Dutch audience. I've seen them do this bit at their live shows but I never saw the original staging, which I guess was for Dutch TV.
You probably know Mark Proksch. He played the awkward, annoying Nate on The Office, and the awkward, annoying energy vampire Colin Robinson on What We Do in the Shadows.
What you might not know is that Mark Proksch is an energy vampire in real life and the character of Colin Robinson is a just a slightly rewritten version of himself.
He became famous when -- just because he was bored -- he began calling local news channels telling them that he was a Yo-Yo Master named Kenny "K-Strass" Strasser, and that he uses his champion yo-yo skills to educate school children about global warming.
In fact, he can barely yo-yo at all. He strains to do a simple up-and-down move.
And in a medium where speed is everything and a segment has to be wrapped up in two minutes, he wastes as much time as possible, talking endlessly about trivial details no one cares about while making excuses about why he doesn't want to do the one thing he was brought on TV to do, play with the yo-yo.
The energy vampire really fed well during these appearances. The hosts try to keep things moving but this vampire keeps things slow and awkward.
More about the history of this energy vampire here.
FACT: sports "journalists" are just low-IQ damp communist apparatchiks who want to go down on athletes.
Faith in American media keeps hitting new lows. How can news outlets regain that trust? Could it be by investing themselves in a position that 80% of the American public opposes? The Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) want everyone to hold their beer.
Each year, APSE holds contests for sports coverage in several different categories. This year, the APSE has added a new category for covering transgender sports. The announcement came last month, but curiously did not make news at the time:
APSE first vice president Erik Hall introduced a new category for the upcoming APSE contest. This category is dedicated to recognizing Excellence in Coverage of the Transgender Community in Sports. The announcement was made during the awards banquet at the annual APSE Summer Conference on Saturday night, July 18, 2026, in Arlington, Virginia.
Glorious. No notes. S-tier.
At least four "women's" golf tournaments in Canada this summer have been won by men. aka Women 2.0.
Women 1.0 were crazyyy, man.
Jarvis
@jarvis_best
I was pleasantly caught off guard by the argument of former journalist Peter Beinart who responded to a group of Michigan Jewish Dems who were uncomfortable with El Sayed by telling them that El Sayed will stop global warming and global warming will be Bad For Jews.
Shut up, Jews. The Radical Gay Islamists are in charge now.
Those words from Jim Sheehan, owner of the Wydaho Roasters coffee shop in Driggs, Idaho, have sparked the latest controversy over the right of businesses to refuse service on the basis of religious or political views.
Sheehan has drawn national attention after throwing out a group of pro-life teenagers, calling them the equivalent of a Ku Klux Klan meeting in his shop. Sheehan clearly caters to those who want their lattes with an added shot of rage.
However, this and a number of other cases have exposed the hypocrisy of many regarding the service businesses must provide customers with opposing views. From cakes to coffee, shops remain ground zero for an age of rage.
Years ago, politicians and pundits rallied around the effort to force Jack Phillips, a cakeshop owner, to create cakes celebrating same-sex marriages. Phillips objected that it violated his religious beliefs. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court in what many of us hoped would be a final resolution of this conflict.
It wasn't. The Court, under the control of swing-voter and super-gay Kennedy, punted in such a way as to require people to spend hundreds of thousands in court costs to have a chance to find out if they have free speech rights and the right of conscience or not.
A more recent 2023 case expanded people's rights a bit more.
But notably, in cases like Masterpiece Cakeshop, Phillips insisted that he would always sell cakes to any couple, including same-sex couples. He only refused to make cakes specifically celebrating same-sex marriages, due to his religious views.
The case of Wydaho is different. Sheehan refused the same general accommodation offered to all customers because he opposes pro-life causes. In the confrontation, Sheehan declared that "in my world" pro-lifers are no different from the Ku Klux Klan.
"This is my place of business," he declared. "I did a lot of work to get people on the ballot so women would have the right to choose in the state of Idaho, and this is something I do not support, nor does my wife, and it's our business. So we have that choice."
In my view, they do have that choice. Yet it must also be acknowledged what Sheehan is doing is far more extreme than what Phillips did in Masterpiece Cakeshop. He is not being asked to create a coffee concoction opposing abortion, like a Cafe Au Life specialty drink. He acknowledges that other groups might use the shop -- he just does not want these teenagers to use it to support pro-life causes.
The same controversy arose the same week across the country in Virginia. In Alexandria, Fatana Karimi, owner of the Karimi Salon, threw out a woman after she revealed that she was Israeli. Jessica Walton posted an account of the encounter, and a video was later posted on social media.
Breaking news, liberals are terrible, hateful, ill-behaved, maleducated mentally-ill assholes and extreme narcissists who deploy the reasoning of selfish children to say "I get whatever I want whenever I want it, and you get nothing, and no I'm not interested in a rule that favors us equally, I'm special, the rule will always change to favor me at all times."
I'm sure this breaking news which comes as a huge surprise to most of you.
An anonymous account used AI to parody the third season of the woke racebent lame-n-gay Rings of Power, showing dwarves with ludicrous dwarf-fros:
Are they trolling us? Are they cave trolling us? Are they in on the joke now?
The Department of Education has told schools to stop overpunishing white kids and underpunishing black kids to create "balance" in punishment -- irrespective of actual student behavior -- and Reuters is just heart-sick about it.
They have "experts" who say that racism is good!
The U.S. Education Department has issued guidance urging schools to stop what it calls "racial balancing" in student discipline policies, prompting concerns that the Trump administration is making it harder to address longstanding racial disparities in school discipline.
Federal civil rights data has shown Black students are disciplined at disproportionately high rates.
Is there any reason for that?
Wait, wait, don't tell me -- racism, right?
An Education Department report, opens new tab released in 2023 found Black public preschool children received out-of-school suspensions at a rate nearly twice their enrollment.
The new guidance says schools cannot modify discipline policies simply to reduce such racial disparities.
A school's decision "to change its discipline policies with the purpose of avoiding or reducing racial disparities in discipline constitutes race discrimination," the Education Department's office for civil rights said in a letter.
It said schools must ensure students are not treated differently because of race and that "racial balancing" constitutes discrimination.
Students must be treated equally and not discriminated against or in favor of due to their race, which, experts say, is The New Racism and White Supremacy come out from under its sheet.
The guidance follows the department's decision last month to remove several "disparate impact" regulations that for decades have prohibited policies and practices with discriminatory effects that are often unintended.
President Donald Trump has acted against diversity initiatives, which he calls discriminatory against white people and males. Civil rights advocates say Trump's actions are rolling back social progress by removing practices aimed at helping marginalized groups.
Eric Duncan, education equity advocacy group EdTrust's director of P-12 policy, criticized the latest guidance.
"You cannot address racial disparities in school discipline by telling schools to ignore race," he said. "Black students have long faced some of the harshest discipline in our nation's schools.
This is from a year ago, but I think you'll enjoy it anyway.
Women who 'hate' men might be the most desirable to date, shocking dating theory reveals
Beastly left-wing castrating women are pushing the theory that Akshually we're the best partners for the men we despise and want to harm and humiliate.
A recent -- rather controversial -- hot topic in today's dating world has taken the internet by storm: women who openly say they "hate men" might actually be the best partners to date.
According to social media, men could benefit greatly from dating women who express discontent with the opposite sex -- but it's not as controversial as you might think.
TikTok user James White (@jameslwhitee) stirred the pot with a viral video in which he elaborated on this theory -- believing women who say they dislike men could be the most loyal, loving partners out there.
"Okay, so if you're a guy who can find a girl who hates all men, but! But, but, but likes you? You're set. You are literally set for life," James explained, explaining that many men misinterpret these women's stance.
I got this from the Boyscast, who point out that there's a big presence on TikTok of men who say whatever angry feminists want to hear to get them to DM them for sex. It's p***ybait. It's pooterslop.
Or, they postulate, this guy might just be gay.
They also point out that a woman who "hates" anything -- not just men, but anything -- is by definition hateful and angry, and have you ever noticed, people who are generally hateful and angry aren't easy to get along with?
And if they hate you in particular -- rather worse. Rather worse.
He claims that instead of seeing their expressed disdain for men as a negative, he believes it's basically a filter.
"All these girls who hate all men," he added, "they're gonna find one man that they love, that they want to take care of, that they cherish, that they wanna be super kind to, super sweet, everything like that."
If a woman who's skeptical of men as a whole chooses to let you in, then supposedly she's serious about you.
In a separate video, TikTokker @tootsietat added that women who loudly criticize men could be searching for the rare, "not all men" type of guy.
Instead of just talking about the flaws of men in general, these women want to see actual proof of a man embodying the qualities that make him stand apart from the negative stereotypes.
If I said "I would never date a woman from [x] minority because the negative stereotypes I associate with them" -- do you think any leftwingers would urge women from that minority group to try to prove to me they don't embody the negative stereotypes I associate with their race?
Nah, right?
I thought so. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy.
Woke "trans" tourist: Now that the UK says that biological men must use the men's bathrooms, I don't know which bathroom to use.
What a riddle. Who could figure out such a puzzler?
Transgender tourist visiting the UK says he doesn’t know which bathroom to use after new UK rule banned men in women’s toilets.
“I’m trans and I heard I’m not allowed to go to the women’s restroom in public spaces. I don’t know where to go to be honest.” pic.twitter.com/MBo8eExhey
Super-centrist moderate Hillary Clinton beloved by "conservative" NeverTrumpers: I support the "experiment" to see if socialism will work in America.
Hillary Clinton on the RISE of SOCIALISM: "The Democratic Party right now is, I think, going through an experiment. Like who can actually respond particularly to young people's very real concerns about where they are at this point in their lives and what kind of future do they…
In an episode published on August 5, Van Lathan Jr., host of Higher Learning, went on an extensive rant proclaiming that American Christians nationwide are "villains" and "mean people" who he expected to see "saying something wild," all while Talarico laughed and nodded in agreement. Talarico then told Lathan Jr. that he didn't believe that Christianity as "defining someone as a good person" was dead, but agreed that his "assessment is spot on."
Talarico's strain of "good person" Christianity comes from St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, headed by Jim Rigby. Rigby has employed the use of an "inclusive Bible" that forbids solely masculine pronouns for God and considers the use of titles like "King" or "Lord" for Jesus Christ to be akin to "rape culture." St. Andrew's Presbyterian distributes sexually explicit books to children with the message that "God is queer, and funds Planned Parenthood and trans youth summer camps.
SCOOP: In a 2025 appearance on the Higher Learning podcast, Democrat candidate James Talarico called the idea that Christians are the "villains" of American society "spot on." pic.twitter.com/GYE7lSHbvs
Bonus: Sonny Hostin pressured a DA to drop trespass charges against her son, with the "Don't you know who I am?" maneuver.
The DA supposedly rejected this pressure -- but surprise surprise, her son got a sweetheart deal requiring only that he go to a three hour "course" and the charges will be ultimately expunged.
The entitled son of "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin had to complete a court-ordered course to get his Westchester County trespassing case dismissed -- despite his celeb mom's two-month-long campaign to make the case disappear.
Ivy League-educated Gabriel Hostin, 24, was nabbed trespassing on Metro-North Railroad tracks in New Rochelle on June 16 and hit with a trespassing violation. During his arrest, his famous mom was caught on bodycam trying to throw her weight around with cops at the scene.
"My name is Sunny Hostin and I'm one of the co-hosts of 'The View' and I'm a former federal prosecutor," she told cops. "That's my son. He's a Harvard graduate, he doesn't have a criminal record."
According to sources, she didn't let up after that, and consistently hammered away at the Westchester County District Attorney's Office to make it all go away without any recourse.
The younger Hostin eventually agreed to accept a deal, which required him to take part in a three-hour Fresh Start course, which the Westchester DA's Office said is a "pre-arraignment diversion program that provides eligible first-time, low-level offenders" with a chance to have the cases dismissed.
Gabriel Hostin completed the course on Aug. 20, and the prosecutors have sent a letter to the court requesting that the charges be dismissed after completion of the course.
To be honest, it's a minor offense and I wouldn't expect there to be a serious penalty for it. But then, Sonny Hostin, who claims to be a lawyer, would have realized the penalty would have been a slap on the wrist with the charges expunged after a minor pre-trial diversion.
But she was determined that her son should receive no penalty at all.
Because she's on The View. Why she imagines that's a credit, I don't know.
So f*** that bitch Sonny Hostin and her incredibly privileged form of "oppression."
Blue Shithole Cities Have Rampant Crime in Their Public Transit Systems. They Could Slash Crime By Simply Stopping Fare-Evaders Plus: Spanish Citizens Set Fire to the Shanty Town Put Up by Moroccan Invaders
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Really? The very people whose first encounter with public transit systems is to commit a crime by jumping the turnstile turn out to also commit a huge amount of crime once they're in the system?
City Journal argues that instead of wasting money on programs already shown to be ineffective, Congress should just fund full-height fare gates that cannot be jumped as turnstiles can be.
Last November, 72-time arrestee Lawrence Reed poured gasoline on a CTA Blue Line passenger in Chicago and set her on fire. The incident was so egregious that the Federal Transit Administration got involved, threatening to withhold $50 million in federal funds unless the CTA enhanced systemwide security. The CTA implemented its plan in March, but the benefits have been hard to detect so far.
Congress is poised to repeat the FTA's ineffective intervention. The Surface Transportation Reauthorization--the government's five-year approval of road and rail funding--features several similar attempts to improve public safety.
Fortunately, America's major transit systems have a better option to reduce crime and disorder: installing full-height fare gates, which keep criminals out of transit systems. Congress should require and fully fund the installation of new full-height fare gates for all systems that don't yet have them.
Transit officials report that serious crimes are committed overwhelmingly by people who evade fares. In the Los Angeles Metro system, 97 percent of people who committed a violent crime didn't pay. In Washington, D.C., 99.5 percent of those who committed a "Part 1" crime (homicide, rape, robbery, arson, or motor vehicle theft) had dodged the fare. In New York, MTA CEO Janno Lieber says that "virtually all" crimes are committed by fare evaders.
...
Other systems report similar findings. Washington, D.C.'s WMATA found that, following its own modernized fare-gate installation, fare evasion fell by 82 percent and crime by nearly 40 percent. L.A. Metro reports that a pilot program for modernized fare gates reduced passenger reports of security concerns, uncleanliness, and vandalism and graffiti by 69 percent at affected stations.
I know we don't like Congress funding state or city systems, but apparently they're determined to throw taxpayer money at the problem. Might as well do something that can actually fix things.
Except... would it? These shithole cities refuse to stop fare evaders. Congress can pay for new fare gates, but it can't actually force shithole cities to enforce the payment of fares. If you've ever been in a subway, you know there is a floor-to-ceiling gate at every entrance that are opened for people with wheelchairs or baby-strollers, who cannot go through the turnstiles.
And you also know that criminals rush through these gates when they're opened and hold them open for their hoodlum friends.
Manhattan Institute
@ManhattanInst
The numbers here are insane:
In the L.A. Metro system, 97% of people who committed a violent crime evaded the fare. In D.C., 99.5% of those who committed a “Part 1” crime (homicide, rape, robbery, arson, or motor vehicle theft) had dodged the fare.
In New York, MTA CEO Janno Lieber says that “virtually all” crimes are committed by fare evaders.
Speaking of broken windows: The left-wing media and socialist Spanish president Dirty Sanchez say that "almost all of the migrants in Ceuta" have returned home.
Thousands of Spanish citizens are revolting in CEUTA and demanding the expulsion of the migrants, which the Spanish government did not want or rather prevented.
They are now taking the law into their own hands and setting fire to the migrants' slum huts and driving them away from the beach.
Chaos in Ceuta. Spanish patriots with clubs attack North African Muslim invaders, razing illegal camps on Ceuta's beach. These brave patriots cannot be blamed, considering that a month has passed since invasion began and no one has done anything. pic.twitter.com/QCJx0k76qE
🚨BREAKING: Ceuta locals are now tracking down and BLOCKING vehicles belonging to the Red Cross NGO, in order to halt their operations across the enclave
This is unprecedented. They are warning the Red Cross to leave immediately.
When the locals saw that journalists from the liberal TV channel La Sexta had arrived to slander their protest against illegal migration, the locals quickly walked up to them and told them to get lost.
Shock Study: There's a Direct Link Between Extremist Trans Ideology and the Trans Violence Committed to Vindicate That Extremist Ideology
—Disinformation Expert Ace
If we were talking about any group the right, there would be no debate about whether the most extreme, no-deviation-allowed, all-who-deny-our-claims-are-enemies-and-valid-targets version of an ideology leads to violence. In fact, the left claims that fairly milktoast agitators like Ben Shapiro constitute an intolerable threat of extremist violence.
A just-released study from Rutgers University, the Network Contagion Research Institute, and the Manhattan Institute has found something not at all surprising...
"These findings suggest that gender ideology is associated with LWA [left-wing authoritarianism] and willingness to justify political violence."
Knock me over with a feather. Here's the rub:
Finally, broader research on perceived victimhood, moralization, and political violence suggests that identities organized around grievance, perceived victimization, and injustice, when paired with authoritarian or punitive dispositions, can predict support for anti-democratic or violent political action... Taken together, these literatures suggest a common mechanism: ideological content that names an oppressor class, certifies ongoing victimization, and locates remedy in coercive institutional or social action which may supply authoritarian psychology with morally justified targets.
The study establishes a correlation but not necessarily a causation.
Although, to be fair, they have to say that or trans extremists will murder them and their children.
Research frameworks for understanding authoritarianism have historically focused overwhelmingly on the political right, while analogous left-wing pathways have received far less attention...
You don't say!?
This study suggests that the same psychological machinery operates on the extreme left, and that it may be running through institutional channels -- clinical guidelines, professional standards, credentialed expertise -- that current threat-detection frameworks are not well designed to recognize. Violence connected to gender ideology remains largely undocumented in the academic literature. This study provides a first systematic empirical look at the psychological infrastructure that makes such violence conceivable.
More at the link, including the kind of statements -- for example, there's a "trans genocide" underway -- that seem to motivate extremists to kill 24 school children to stop this "genocide."
Colin Wright
@SwipeWright
🚨BREAKING: Our new HHS report--"Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?"--is out!
For decades, psychological research has looked at opposition to transgender ideology through a lens of prejudice and right-wing authoritarianism. We asked the conspicuously neglected flipside question:
What psychological traits characterize those who most strongly endorse gender-affirming norms?
In a preregistered study of 1,208 U.S. adults, we developed a Clinical Gender Affirmation Scale (CGAS) using positions drawn directly from guidance issued by the APA, American Psychiatric Association, WPATH, and American Academy of Pediatrics.
Our results shocked us.
Endorsement of mainstream principles of "gender-affirmation" was strongly associated with left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) and support of political violence.
Both LWA and endorsement of gender-affirming clinical norms were associated with greater justification for killing Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, and Brian Thompson, as well as arson against ICE buildings, destruction of wealthy people's property, and violence against police.
These relationships remained significant even after controlling for political identity.
Acceptance of gender ideology appears to augment authoritarian attitudes in support for political violence.
From our report:
"Together, these findings support the paper's core claim: gender ideology may function as an ideological accelerant, telling left-wing authoritarian psychology who the enemy is, why the situation is urgent, and--in those already disposed toward force--that violence is legitimate."
We believe institutionalized gender ideology may function as a kind of ideological "content package" for people already disposed toward left-wing authoritarianism. It assists in identifying oppressors, creates moral urgency, and provides justification for taking coercive action against opposition.
This is only the first of a series of @HHSGov reports we're working on as a collaboration of researchers at @ncri_io, @RutgersU, and @ManhattanInst.
Stay tuned for more.
WPATH, which claimed for years that it had perfect scientific proof that transing children "saved lives," is being sued for by the FTC for fraudulent claims about the mutilation of children.
And what's their defense?
They now say they weren't offering facts -- just OPINIONS!
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) now claims that its "standards of care" are merely one opinion in a debate over youth gender medicine. This marks a dramatic change for WPATH, which spent years promoting its approach as the only ethical one to help youth and adults who experience distress associated with their sexual embodiment.
WPATH makes this claim in a legal filing submitted in a lawsuit brought against it by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The federal agency alleges that WPATH has engaged in consumer fraud, specifically listing ten "deceptive claims" made by the defendant about the benefits and safety of medical interventions. According to WPATH, however, the claims in question "are non-actionable opinions about subjects on which there is medical and scientific uncertainty," and as such protected under the First Amendment and not subject to FTC jurisdiction.
🚨BREAKING: Our new HHS report—"Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?"—is out!
For decades, psychological research has looked at opposition to transgender ideology through a lens of prejudice and right-wing… pic.twitter.com/yaNJ6DPNVI
Podcast: Dolly Parton...an American classic, Michigan's El Sayed is part of our future destruction, More Global Warming nonsense, mail-in balloting restrictions, Darline Graham? Get rid of family dynasties...and more!
1977 interview shows that Barbara Walters has always been a seaward and Dolly Parton always had "country class" Walters actually asks Dolly Parton if she knows that people think she's a joke. This because Walters can't get over the fact that a show-woman has 1, big breasts, and 2, dresses a bit outrageously because, get this, she's an entertainer. A stage performer. You know, someone people pay money to see live and expect them to put on a show. She never would attack Liberace for wearing glitter-tuxedos. But she's mad that Dolly Parton makes Barbara Walters look bad through association (by being a woman). Babs, you wish people associated the two of you. Believe me, we can tell the difference.
Dude trolls a city council meeting about permitting yet another mosque by promising the mosque will destroy the Constitution "All women who are overweight or obese will have to wear burka. 10,000 steps per day, low carb."
Podcast: Will Cuba fall without a fight? More Iran confusion, gun rights for felons isn't a crazy idea, wetbacks are voting! And are data centers of the devil? Nope!
Months ago, I reported that the final Zodiac cypher had been cracked and the name of the killer revealed. And the name of the killer turned out to be someone suspected in the unsolved Black Dahlia murder. The general tone of my mention of this was "serious you guys, this is real."
Well, it's not real. It's total bullshit.
Sorry about that. I did two things: 1, I bought into something, a conspiracy theory really, because it was new and exciting. And 2, I allowed a self-declared "expert" to snow me over with his "expert" claims about solving ciphers, an alleged expertise I could not challenge because I know practically nothing about codebreaking. I remember being similarly swindled by self-declared "experts" babbling about "chromatic aberrations." (Although I didn't really buy into that, but I found it "interesting" and I wasn't strongly skeptical about it. Hey they said they're "experts," they must know that they're talking about, right?)
I screwed up. It won't be the last time, I'm sure.
Podcast: In Wisconsin, the Dems steal an election from themselves, abortion is cheered in Massachusetts, Spain gets what it voted for, the economy is humming, and more!
